The Lion Index
The world is overpopulated, not because there are more than seven billion people on it, but because there are more than seven billion people on it and only 20,000 wild lions (as well as insufficient numbers of other wild creatures).
Man is out of balance with nature. For man to be in harmony with nature, there should be 100,000 wild lions for every billion people (and I'm low-balling here). And of course I'm arbitrarily using lions as a yardstick, it could be any animal, for the instance of any one animal living is dependent on an entire ecosystem of animals living.
It is a lesson that man will soon find out.
So the next time I'm in a discussion with a be-fruitful-and-multiplier, I'll put forward the Lion Index, arguing not against the overpopulation of humans per se, but the depopulation of every other living thing. Perhaps it will leave a mark--at least it changes the terms of the debate.
Some amazing videography of lions: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/serengeti-lion/index.html#.U2pB5yjy2JM
Man is out of balance with nature. For man to be in harmony with nature, there should be 100,000 wild lions for every billion people (and I'm low-balling here). And of course I'm arbitrarily using lions as a yardstick, it could be any animal, for the instance of any one animal living is dependent on an entire ecosystem of animals living.
It is a lesson that man will soon find out.
So the next time I'm in a discussion with a be-fruitful-and-multiplier, I'll put forward the Lion Index, arguing not against the overpopulation of humans per se, but the depopulation of every other living thing. Perhaps it will leave a mark--at least it changes the terms of the debate.
Some amazing videography of lions: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/serengeti-lion/index.html#.U2pB5yjy2JM